Coverage and Purpose
The NAP applies to the entire UK. It specifically relates to Plant Protection Products; these are pesticides used to protect plants and plant products from pests, disease, and weeds. It does not cover ‘biocides’ like wood preservatives or disinfectants, or veterinary medicines such as sheep dip, as they fall under separate policies and regulatory requirements.
Approach
It sets out three objectives to meet its high-level aim. These include encouraging uptake of Integrated Pest management (IPM), setting clear targets and measures to monitor use of pesticides and strengthening compliance to ensure safety and better environmental outcomes.
Delivery
A series of actions underpin each of the three objectives. The Welsh Government has committed to the actions set out in the NAP but may also choose to supplement these with additional measures to drive even further ambition in Wales.
Target
It introduces the first domestic reduction target for pesticides in the UK. Crucially, this is being done based on potential environmental pressures rather than solely weight or volume applied. In setting a pesticides reduction target WG want a target based on quantifiable outcomes, which is stretching, measurable, time bound and requires sustained action by all delivery partners. The NAP recognises that the domestic target will contribute to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework Target 7 agreed at COP15.
Encouraging Sustainability
The NAP recognises that biodiversity and insect abundance are crucial for our economic prosperity and that IPM can have significant benefits in reducing pressures and improving the environment.
Improving the Regulatory System
It acknowledges the importance of an effective regulatory system and commits government to considering ways in which the regulatory system can be improved.
Existing Measures
It commits government to updating best practice guidance to better support those working with pesticides.
Measuring progress
Alongside the headline domestic, reduction target for pesticides government will continue to monitor and report against a broader framework of action-based and outcome-based indicators.
Future
Government intends to supplement the NAP with further detail that will outline their shared emerging priorities and provide a more comprehensive framework for achieving the vision for pesticides going forward.
NFU Cymru Comment
The long overdue UK Pesticides National Action Plan (NAP) focuses on increasing Integrated Pest Management (IPM), which is welcomed by NFU Cymru. However, the plan itself is a bit of a curate's egg - good in parts but not in others. Alongside compliance there is a new target to reduce risk measures.
Through Welsh Government’s Sustainable Farming Scheme Universal Action 5 (Integrated Pest Management) there is a requirement to complete an assessment of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approaches and record this in an IPM annually by 31st December. It is important that Welsh Government proactively supports IPM uptake without impacting on the competitiveness of Welsh farmers and growers. You will be aware that the EU has scrapped its proposed Sustainable Use Regulation and 50% pesticide reduction target.
It is also important that the plan recognises farming’s achievement and the sector’s continuing work in reducing the potential risks associated with pesticide use. For us in NFU Cymru Crops and Horticulture Board it is particularly pleasing to see the achievements of one of our members rightly recognised in the case study at the end of the summary document attached.
Lack of detail and commitment
Overall, however there is some the lack of detail and commitment to ensure farmers and growers will have the crop solutions they need to produce food now and in the future. Wales and the UK currently has some of the most stringent pesticide regulations in the world which control any potential impact or risks from their use.
Welsh farming is committed to demonstrating that it is continuing to take a responsible approach to using plant protection products, and it would have been good to see the NAP mark the progress we’ve made. Increasingly we are world-leading professionalisation of pesticide use. IPM also aligns with the NFU Cymru own plant health strategy, which aims to put IPM at the heart of all crop protection activity.
Public health and the environment are of course critically important and this needs to be balanced with the need to grow affordable Welsh food and the continuous push to increase productivity. For this, farmers and growers need continued support for IPM uptake and access to more effective tools to protect crops from pests, weeds, and disease, and to ensure they can run thriving, profitable businesses. First reading of the NAP feels that it has come up short on the detail of how it will support this balance.
Helping to drive sustainable climate-friendly food production
We are however pleased to see that the plan also applies equally to the amenity sector, which is good, as we need to take this forward together, but we should not forget either the use of pesticides in private gardens.
The plan now is to work with Welsh Government to ensure this new plan protects public health and the environment, while also helping to drive sustainable climate-friendly food production right here in Wales.